Most Chinese tend to leave their assets to their children, with some choosing to draft a will for estate planning while others believe that children can automatically inherit without a will. However, in the United States, simply having a will is often not sufficient when it comes to estate planning. Sometimes, children are unable to directly inherit and may get entangled in lengthy and costly court proceedings.
Mr. Zhang, who lived in Los Angeles for many years and raised his daughter alone, drafted a simple will before his passing, designating a $1.2 million residential property for his daughter to inherit. However, after Mr. Zhang passed away, his daughter was unable to immediately obtain the inheritance rights to the property.
According to Shanshan Han, a Chinese trust lawyer at Han Park Law Group, this is because California law stipulates that when an individual’s assets exceed $184,500 (based on 2025 standards) upon death, even with a legal will, family members cannot directly inherit and must go through the “probate” process.
The probate process, overseen by the California Superior Court, involves verifying the authenticity of the will, confirming the inventory of the estate, addressing creditor claims, and ultimately ensuring legal distribution.
Shanshan Han explained, “This is a prolonged and costly process.” Mr. Zhang’s daughter went through nearly two years of waiting and court back-and-forth, paying over $50,000 in legal fees and various court costs before finally obtaining the inheritance rights.
Mr. Zhang’s case is not an isolated incident. According to Han, some people mistakenly believe that drafting a will eliminates all concerns, and some hastily create a simple will using online templates, which actually misinterprets California estate laws.
“Furthermore, the probate process is public, meaning your asset inventory, debts, and beneficiary information will be made available to the public. This poses a significant invasion of privacy for many families,” she said.
To avoid lengthy and expensive court procedures, Han stated that an increasing number of families in California are opting for a more secure legal tool – a “Living Trust”. Living trusts have been regarded by Americans as an effective way to plan their estates, maximizing the protection of the rights of the parties involved.
For instance, Mrs. Liu, a retired high school teacher living in Irvine, owned a condominium worth around $900,000, an investment account of approximately $250,000, and other daily assets. After consulting with a law firm, Mrs. Liu decided to establish a “Revocable Living Trust” and formally transferred her primary assets into the trust, including changing property titles and designating beneficiaries.
As Mrs. Liu properly and compliantly set up her trust during her lifetime and transferred ownership of her assets into the trust, her two trust beneficiaries, her children, smoothly inherited her estate within two months of her passing in 2024 without court involvement, almost without any additional legal fees, and avoided all public procedures.
A “Revocable Living Trust” means that while Mrs. Liu was alive, she still retained control of the legal ownership of all assets. After her passing, her assets were inherited by the beneficiaries without the need for court involvement.
However, Han cautioned California residents that many people create trust documents but do not transfer all the assets that should be placed in the trust, resulting in some assets still going through the probate process after death. Therefore, establishing a trust is just the first step; the crucial aspect is the process of transferring assets into the trust.
So, what risks do individuals in California face if they do not establish a trust or even a will? According to Han, under the “California Intestate Succession Law,” if a resident passes away without a valid will or trust, their estate will be distributed according to statutory provisions, often unrelated to the actual family relationships.
She exemplified this with Mr. Chen, a small business owner in Los Angeles with two children from a previous marriage, who had been living with his current spouse for years. As he believed that “everyone in the family knows how I want to distribute my assets,” Mr. Chen did not engage in any legally recognized estate planning during his lifetime.
After Mr. Chen’s sudden death due to a heart attack, under California law, his spouse automatically inherited all community property and one-third of Mr. Chen’s separate property, with the remaining portion divided equally between his two children. This outcome shocked and angered the children, as they felt that their stepmother “seized their family assets”. Ultimately, the stepmother and children ended up in a legal dispute.
“This case highlights a reality: in California, if you don’t express your estate intentions proactively, the law will automatically ‘decide’ for you. The law cannot consider the complex emotional backgrounds between relatives, focusing solely on marriage and blood relation,” Han stated, emphasizing that estate planning is not only for the wealthy but an effective legal tool for families to transition smoothly.
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only with no recommendation or solicitation purposes. Dajiyuan does not provide advice on investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or real estate planning.